Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet
by WavesOfGrain94
Summary: When the Dragneel brothers find themselves stranded on the side of a cliff, Zeref will do everything he can to protect his little brother. Little does he know, the feelings are returned. And little does he know, they are not alone in their plight. Manga spoilers! Easter one-shot, religiously themed, please respect even if you don't agree.
**A/N:** Good evening/morning/afternoon, my fair readers! So I know I haven't posted anything in a long time and a lot of you are waiting for updates on other stories... please don't kill me, I SWEAR I'm working on them! I hit a bit of a rut with OUAT to be honest, but I'm finally figuring out the next step for it, so be expecting a chapter to be up for that soon - maybe not this week, because my work schedule right now is INSANE - but soon! Same goes for Fairy Beats. But I really wanted to post this one-shot for Easter. It's my favorite holiday, and I wanted to do something to commemorate it.

So some quick background on this story: for those of you who don't already know this due to my 18 month hiatus, I'm a Mormon, or a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This story is a Christian themed story based on a talk given by a leader in my church, Jeffery R. Holland. He gave this talk last Easter Sunday, and in it he told the story of two brothers and used that story to relate to Christ and His relationship with us. This was about the time it was revealed **(SPOILER ALERT FOR NON-MANGA READERS!)** that Zeref and Natsu are brothers, and I was kind of obsessing with that idea (still am honesty), so naturally the two brothers made me think of them. I'm also a bit obsessed with Zeref in general. I know he's turned a bit evil as of late, but I really feel a lot of pity for him, and I have ever since the Tenrou arc. So I wanted to write this story to commemorate the Dragneel brothers, as well as write about mercy and redemption. The italisized part at the beginning is a quote from Elder Holland, in how he started the story in his talk...

* * *

 **WHERE JUSTICE, LOVE, AND MERCY MEET _  
_** _An Easter story by AnyDreamWillDo19_

 _Without safety ropes, harnesses, or climbing gear of any kind, two brothers... attempted to scale a sheer canyon wall in Snow Canyon State Park in my native southern Utah…_

"Come on, Natsu! We're over halfway there!"

The pink-haired Dragneel boy let out a huff as he pushed himself up with one foot and reached for another handhold. "Jeez, Nii-chan! Let me catch my breath for a second, will ya?!"

Zeref laughed, giving his little brother a small smile before turning his focus back to his own climbing. Summer vacation had just begun: Natsu had finished middle school and would be entering high school in a few months; Zeref, though he was only nineteen, had just finished his junior year of college, having started at Crocus University at the age of sixteen; and the two brothers had decided to spend the first day of summer climbing up a canyon that resided in a national park near the town the Dragneel family had come to for vacation. Neither of the boys had climbing gear; they were both confident in their own abilities, seeing as they had grown up scouring these mountains. Natsu was sporting brown hiking shoes, khaki shorts and an orange t-shirt with a black dragon emblazoned on the front. Despite the blazing heat, the 14-year-old had insisted, just as he did every day, on wearing the white and black scarf their godfather, Igneel, had given him, though rather than wear it on his neck as usual, he had opted to tie it around his head like a thick bandana. Zeref had donned boots, as well as black cargo pants and a white t-shirt with a red and gold rock band design on the front, with the simple metal necklace his high school sweetheart, Mavis Vermillion, had given him dangling around his neck. Normally he would be wearing a black leather jacket, which was also a gift from Igneel, with the ensemble, but in this heat he knew it would be best to leave it at home.

Sweat had plastered Zeref's jet black hair to his forehead, and he could feel the moisture dripping down his back as he pulled himself smoothly up to the next rock, and then the next, his lean yet strong arm and leg muscles flexing easily as they carried him up the summit. He loved the almost mathematical method of the climb, the simple process of focus and perception exercising his mind as well as his body. Looking over his shoulder, Zeref could see over the park, which was covered in green forest dotted with jagged red rocks and cliffs like the one he and his brother were climbing. Beyond that, the town of Mildian filled up a valley, which rose back up on the other side into more forested mountains. Though their family had moved to a city called Magnolia soon after Zeref's graduation, the college boy still considered Mildian his home, the place he grew up. He could see the white pillars of his old high school smack dab in the middle of town, and Zeref felt another pang of sadness as he remembered Natsu would not be attending that place. Natsu was now attending the Fairy Tail School District schools in Magnolia, having started and finished middle school there. His disappointment faded, however, as he looked up at the sky, which was pristine blue with lazy white clouds scattered across it. The sun shone joyously directly overhead, signaling noonday. Zeref smiled; it was a perfect day!

At the sound of soft grunting and panting, the oldest Dragneel turned to see that his little brother had caught up with him. Natsu was just as sweat-drenched as he was, yet his spiky pink hair refused to fall flat, insisting on sticking up every which way it desired. Zeref was almost jealous, though he definitely preferred to have his hair black and scraggily than pink and spiky. "Look, Natsu!" Zeref said gleefully, nodding his head back towards the town. "I can see the Mildian Academy from here!"

Natsu was still gasping slightly for breath as he turned and glared at his older brother. "I'm clinging… to the side… of a cliff… on the first day of summer… and you want me… to look at a _school house?_ "

Zeref laughed. "Why are you so out of breath? I thought you said this climb would be easy for you."

"It is," Natsu growled, shifting the position of his hands and feet slightly as his onyx eyes darted around the rock face over his head, searching for his next position. It was really hard to believe the pair really were related; their physical appearances were as completely opposite as their personalities. Zeref was stronger and more athletic than he looked, but Natsu, though not yet fully grown, was definitely and obviously the more sporty of the two, always full of energy and fired up for whatever challenge lay ahead of him. In comparison, Zeref was a pasty white, rather emo-looking kid who could always be found either napping under shady trees or with his nose stuck in his books. His biochemistry major certainly took up a lot of his time and energy these days. But whenever the pair interacted, it was plain to see in how they teased and cared for one another that they were blood.

"Really?" Zeref smirked at his brother's comment. "Is that why you're puffing and grunting so much?"

"Shut up, Nii-chan," Natsu snapped, still focused on the rocks above him. "You're not exactly lookin' peachy king either. In fact, you look like a drowned rat."

Zeref shook his wet hair out of his eyes, turning his attention back to the ledge above him. "Touché. Guess we better get to the top of this thing, huh? We've just got a few feet left…"

As Zeref continued to scan the remaining bit of rock face above him, however, his confident smile faded. There was a protruding ledge above them, and no matter how much his trained dark eyes scrutinized the rocky crevices about him, the college teen could see no way around it. He looked back down at his feet, trying to see if there was a way to backtrack and find another way up, but he quickly realized there was no way to go back the way they had come.

Zeref and Natsu's eyes met as they both realized the same thing: they were stranded.

"Crap," Zeref muttered, looking around them again to see any way out of their situation. But prospects were looking grim.

"What do we do?" Natsu asked his older brother, his eyes scanning the cliff above him desperately.

Giving up on looking for a way up, Zeref began looking for any other way they could move. He noticed an opportunity just to Natsu's right. "Natsu," he said, "can you reach those handholds to your right, just a little ways above you?"

Natsu looked, and after a moment's consideration, nodded. "Yeah, but it won't make much of a difference. I can't go any further than that."

Zeref looked below Natsu and saw a ledge about two inches wide and six inches long. He got a sudden idea. "Get over there," he ordered Natsu, shifting his own position in preparation for maneuvering over the rocks.

Natsu carefully yet swiftly shifted his position, moving one hand and one foot at a time until he was positioned just to the side and a little beneath the lip of the larger protruding ledge. It was barely out of his reach. Zeref took the place his brother had just been, and then stretched down treacherously until the tip of his right foot was on the six inch ledge. He brought his right hand down to grab a rock that could barely count as a hand hold, and then quickly moved his left hand to another rock before dropping his left foot also on the ledge. Zeref was now just beneath Natsu, his hands close to his little brother's feet.

"Alright," Zeref said, looking up at Natsu, who had been watching his brother anxiously as he moved his right foot to another small foothold about a foot higher than the six inch ledge. "This is what we're going to do. You're going to put your foot in my hand, and when I count to three, make a grab for the ledge. I'll boost you up."

Natsu looked up at the ledge, and then back down at Zeref. "How will you get up?"

"We'll figure that out when we get to it," Zeref replied. "But we're going to get you up first."

Natsu was worried, but he nodded anyway. Zeref held up his left hand, and Natsu rested his left foot into his palm. He carefully eased his weight into it, and Zeref steadied himself on the six-inch ledge, bending his knees slightly.

"Pull yourself up with your arms on my count," Zeref told his brother, "and then reach out for the ledge. You're close enough that you should be able to catch it."

"Got it," Natsu affirmed. "Just don't drop me!"

"I would never!" Zeref replied with a rather devilish smile and laugh, though the words were extremely true. The older boy braced himself on the rocks, and he felt Natsu tense above him. "Okay. Ready? After three. One… two… _three!_ "

Natsu yelled out as he jumped up for the ledge. With a loud grunt, Zeref pushed off with his left foot, pulling himself up with his right and pushing against Natsu's foot with his left. This extra boost gave Natsu a couple extra feet of ascension, and the pink haired teen hit the ledge on his chest with an "Oof!" Zeref quickly scrambled for another foothold, giving a panicked gasp as his foot scraped against the rocky cliff side before finding the same hold Natsu had just leapt from. Pushing off with his right foot, Zeref gave Natsu another shove to help him get further onto the ledge, and as the younger boy clambered the rest of the way to safety, his big brother took his place on the rocky wall just beneath the ledge.

"Zeref!" Natsu yelled, his head appearing over the ledge to see if his brother was still safe.

"I'm here!" Zeref called back, laughing breathily as he adjusted himself on the wall. He could still feel his heart pounding beneath his chest. He knew that maneuver could have easily gotten both of them killed, but he was extremely grateful that it didn't. "Good job, Natsu!"

Natsu lay on his stomach with his shoulders hanging off the edge of his perch and reached down toward Zeref. "Here, grab my hand! Maybe I can pull you up!"

Panting slightly, Zeref shifted his weight and released his left hand, slowly stretching it up toward his brother's. Their fingers were nearly inches apart, but the further he tried to stretch, the more unstable he became. He felt his foot slipping and quickly retracted his hand, barely catching himself before he had the chance to completely fall away from the rock.

" _Zeref!"_

"Stay back, Natsu!" Zeref gasped, fearing his brother would fall if he leaned over too far. All the muscles in his arms were screaming and his fingers were cramping as he forced them to cling to the rock with every ounce of will and strength he had. His thighs were achy as well, and he could feel his calves shaking. His breath was becoming short and sharp with both exhaustion and panic. He wasn't sure he could hold on much longer. No, he told himself, closing his eyes for a moment and pressing his forehead into the rock. Calm down, calm down, you can't panic here, you have to focus…

"Maybe if I threw you my scarf!" Natsu suggested, reaching up to his head. "You could climb it like a vine!"

"Do you really think it would hold my weight, Natsu?"

"It might!"

Zeref shook his head. The teen had clearly missed the sarcasm in his voice. "No offense, buddy, but I'm not going to bet my life on a strip of fabric."

"But there's gotta be something!" Natsu cried desperately. "It's not fair if I make it up here and you don't!"

Zeref cast his eyes round about him, searching for anything he could use to pull himself up to the ledge. If only there was a tree root, if only they had brought rope or gear like they knew they should have. Zeref appraised the ledge, trying to avoid the panicked gaze of his little brother as his black eyes scanned the protruding rock. He was slightly taller than Natsu, which brought him a little closer to the lip of the ledge than Natsu had been. His heart leapt wildly as his fingers, slick with sweat, began to slip on the rock. He didn't have much time left. He had to do something: now.

There was only one way: Zeref had to jump. He knew his chances of making it to the ledge were low, but the other option was to wait for his muscles to fail and then finally fall off the cliff face. He couldn't do that to Natsu. He couldn't let his little brother see him die.

"Natsu!" Zeref gasped. "Go and see if there's anything on the cliff like a tree branch that could be long enough to extend down to me."

Natsu looked back over the cliff, and then down at his brother, his eyes full of trepidation. "Nii-chan, I don't think-"

"Please, Natsu! There's not much time before my fingers fail me. It's our only chance. Please, go look for something. Anything. Please."

Natsu and Zeref locked eyes. Zeref knew full well, just as Natsu probably did, that he would find no such thing as a tree branch. Not on this rocky summit. But if his jump were to fail, Zeref could not bear to let Natsu see him fall. It was his idea to do the climb, his fault they were in this situation, and he would do anything to spear Natsu from as much pain as he could. The pink haired teen's intense onyx eyes bore down on Zeref for a little longer, before he finally turned his back and disappeared from the lip of the ledge. Zeref was alone.

With a sigh, Zeref contemplated the ledge, his heart pounding and body shaking both from exhaustion and fear. This wasn't the first time he had found himself on the edge of certain death. During his high school years, he had suffered a serious battle with depression that had lead him to attempt at suicide. The pills he had swallowed failed to do the job as Mavis had discovered him and had him rushed to the hospital just in time to save him. The physical state Zeref now found himself, clinging to the edge of the abyss with only one desperate way to escape, greatly reflected his emotional state back then. It was strange how he found himself now reflecting back on that time.

But Zeref thought on it further. After that disaster, and after a couple of years of counseling and a lot of support from Mavis and Natsu, he had found healing and regained the desire to live, but there were still times he wondered if there was any meaning to his life. Mavis often talked about there being a God who made all of creation with the purpose of us, His children, gaining experience and growth and then returning home to Him. She had spoken of God's Son sent to die for His children, so that they could be forgiven of their sins and return to be with God one day. Zeref was still uncertain that such beings existed - thy sounded like pipe dreams to him - but now, as he saw himself on the brink of death yet again, he felt a strong desire for godly guidance. He had never really prayed before, certainly not out loud, but he had heard Mavis do it a couple of times, so he decided to give it a try.

 _"Please, God,"_ Zeref murmured, closing his eyes for a moment and bowing his head, _"if You're there… if you can hear me… I don't want to die, and I need your help to survive this. Please have pity on me, and let me live another day. Let me make this jump If it is Your will that I die today…"_ Zeref swallowed a lump in his throat and continued, _"then please, at least let my family, and Mavis, know that I love them, and let Natsu return home safely. Please don't leave him alone. Amen."_

When Zeref opened his eyes, he looked back up at the ledge. It was still so high up, and he felt no different, nothing like angels carrying him to safety or a gust of wind lifting him up. Maybe the prayer hadn't worked after all. But even if he had just been talking to himself, he now felt much more calm and determined as he shook his hair out of his eyes and glared at the ledge. He was going to make it. He had to. For Natsu.

With the last of his energy, Zeref dug his fingers and toes into the rock, leaned back with muscles taunt as strings, and leapt. He reached his arms up and out, and was amazed as the adrenaline that desperation had poured into his jump made them extend above the ledge almost to his elbows, much higher than he had expected. But it still wasn't high enough. Zeref slapped his hands down on the surface, desperately scraping with his fingers to find leverage to pull himself up, but there was nothing but loose sand beneath him. It was like gravity had latched itself onto his feet and was pulling him back down into the abyss as his arms slipped back over the ledge, the rocks scraping his hands as he clawed and fought to stay on top. He couldn't stop a gasp of fear and despair from escaping his lips as he realized that his life was coming to an end. His mind screamed against this reality, crying over how unfair it was, how he no longer wanted to die, and without even realizing it, he began praying again, mentally pleading to whatever Deity reigned above that he would send someone – anyone – to save him, but his fingers were already slipping over the ledge, and no one was coming-

" _Zeref!"_

Two hands, like a lightning strike in a summer storm, shot out from over the cliff edge and latched themselves over Zeref's wrists. Zeref looked up and saw his little brother's face twisted in determination beneath his scarf as he began to hoist the older teen back up over the rock. Zeref grabbed Natsu's arms and pulled, both boys grunting as they struggled to get the taller boy onto the ledge. Both of their hands were sweaty and gritty with sand, and they were both exhausted by their climb, but with a strength that not even Zeref had known he had, Natsu successfully pulled Zeref far enough up so that he could get his knees onto the rock. One final tug that sent Natsu falling back onto his rear end, and Zeref was safely on the ledge on all fours, panting and shaking. Natsu lay on his back, his chest rising and falling rapidly and his body coated in sweat, and Zeref watched him, marveling over what had just occurred.

"I…" Zeref choked on his words, struggling to get them out through his raspy breath and sore lungs, "I thought… you had gone out… for a tree branch…"

Natsu shook his head before raising it. He seemed almost angry as he said, "Just how… stupid… do you think… I am? I knew… I would find… no branch on.. this cliff… and so did you! I knew… what you were doing… so I stayed… and waited."

Zeref passed a shaky hand over his face, pushing his hair back as he sat on his heels, smiling blearily at Natsu. "You knew I would try to jump."

Rolling onto his side and pushing himself up, Natsu glared at his older brother. "Yeah, I figured you were gonna try something stupid like that, and I knew it wouldn't work, because you're stupid. So I stayed behind to save your stupid butt from falling to your death." Natsu suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Zeref by the shoulders, and there were tears in his eyes as he continued, "Zeref, you're my only brother. You are my family. No way was I going to leave you and let you fall. I love you too much. So don't you ever send me away again, 'cause I ain't going anywhere, got it? I'm never going to leave you behind, and I'm never letting you leave me!"

Zeref felt tears spark in his eyes as he smiled at his brother and pulled him into an embrace. "I'm sorry, Natsu," he said, rubbing his brother's back as the younger boy began to sniffle. "Thank you for saving me."

As Zeref sat there on that cliff, contemplating what had just occurred with tears of relief and joy falling down his face, he remembered the prayer he had uttered before his desperate jump. Was it possible that God really had answered his prayer, in the form of his little brother? His survival sure felt like a miracle to him. Maybe Mavis was right. Maybe there really was a God looking out for him. Maybe, just maybe, Zeref could start to believe and have faith in that.

Looking up at the sky, Zeref muttered a thank you to the Heavens, his voice like a whisper on a wind he hoped would deliver his message. As he did, a warm feeling like he'd never felt before entered his heart. It was like it was being embraced by something warm, like a fire. Natsu's words came to his mind again, but this time, he thought it was a different voice, though still a familiar one, telling him, _You are my family. I will never leave you or let you fall._

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this. To my fellow Christians, I hope this story helped you feel uplifted and hopeful. If you are not Christian, I hope you were still able to enjoy this story and feel goodness within it. I certainly don't mean to force my religion onto anyone with this story, so if there are any of you readers who don't agree with this theme, then I hope you will not be offended and will still respect my beliefs. I want to finish this story by quoting some more of the talk this story came from. I'll add a link at the bottom as well for any of you who want to go and read the full all of you, I wish you a very Happy Easter, and may God be with you until I write again.

 ** _"My beloved brothers and sisters, today is Easter Sunday... This is the most sacred day of the year for special remembrance of brotherly hands and determined arms that reached into the abyss of death to save us from our fallings and our failings, from our sorrows and our sins._**

 ** _"So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced—to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins. That victory is available to us because of events that transpired on a weekend precisely like this nearly two millennia ago in Jerusalem._**

 ** _"Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, suffered, died, and rose from death in order that He could, like lightning in a summer storm, grasp us as we fall, hold us with His might, and through our obedience to His commandments, lift us to eternal life._**

 ** _"This Easter I thank Him and the Father, who gave Him to us, that Jesus still stands triumphant over death, although He stands on wounded feet. This Easter I thank Him and the Father, who gave Him to us, that He still extends unending grace, although He extends it with pierced palms and scarred wrists. This Easter I thank Him and the Father, who gave Him to us, that we can sing before a sweat-stained garden, a nail-driven cross, and a gloriously empty tomb: ' How great, how glorious, how complete, redemption's grand design, Where justice, love, and mercy meet, in harmony divine!'"_ **_~Jeffery R. Holland_

 _(song quoted at the end is the hymn " How Great the Wisdom And the Love")_

Quote from Elder Holland's talk titled "Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet," given Easter Sunday of April 2015

general-conference/2015/04/where-justice-love-and-mercy-meet?lang=eng


End file.
